Unhappy Children
by Team7Star
Summary: Trunks didn't like to get Goten angry with him. But Goten wanted to go in that old house. We all make bad decisions at some point, right? One-shot horror written by Son A.


**Another horror story! This one I worked pretty hard on, and you can tell because it's way longer than any other one-shots I've written. This one also stars Goten and Trunks, because quite frankly, I love putting those two in the face of danger. **

**DISCLAIMER: DBZ is nat mien. Geez.**

_Unhappy Children_

_By Son A_

Trunks sighed, hitching his backpack higher up on his shoulders, then looked to the sky. A cool breeze blew through the air, pushing Trunks' baseball cap off of his head.

Trunks' shoulders slumped. He was getting tired of waiting for Goten. He was getting tired of school in general. He almost wished Majin Buu would turn evil again, so something exciting would happen and he wouldn't have to go to school.

He and Goten couldn't show any of their power while at school, only because the rest of the kids were weaklings. His father had shrugged when his mother brought up the topic, saying, "They all deserve to die anyways. Let Trunks have his fun." This remark was followed by a smack upside the head from Bulma.

Goten and Trunks had learned the hard way that they couldn't spar during recess, they couldn't go Super Saiyan, and worst of all, Goten was being bullied. Trunks wasn't sure why, but Goten had hinted that the bullies thought he was gay because he stuck by Trunks' side every minute.

It was terrible, having all that bottled up anger against the horrid boys, and not being able to do anything about it, when in reality, he could kill them all with a flick of his finger. In Trunks' opinion, life pretty much sucked for the purple haired nine-year old.

Closing his eyes, his head still directed at the sky, Trunks searched for Goten's ki. He was getting a little worried, when he felt an unmistakable ki fluctuate, and something ran into him from the front.

Looking down, Trunks saw a mass of black hair. It was Goten, no doubt. Goten wrapped his arms around Trunks and held tight, burying his face in Trunks' shoulder. He felt something warm and wet seep into his shirt sleeve, it was either blood or tears.

Hoping the bullies hadn't actually hurt Goten in any physical way, Trunks poked Goten. Goten looked up, his eyes big, sad, and red, wet around the edges with tears. A large pout was spread across his face, and he sniffed loudly.

Trunks struggled in Goten's strangling grip, and managed to get an arm out to tussle Goten's already messy hair. "What's wrong?" he asked. "You only hold this hard when you're really sad."

"They were mean to me again." Goten grumbled, acting as if he was five instead of eight.

"What did they do this time?" asked Trunks, his gaze hardening.

Goten slightly loosened his grip, but his pout got even bigger. "They call me _Gay_ten, and then they called you..." he trailed off, letting go completely, and staring at his shoes.

"Go on, spit it out, what did they call me?" urged Trunks, grabbing Goten by the shoulders.

Goten started to sway. "It's a _bad_ word. I'm not supposed to say."

Trunks shook his head, and let go of Goten. "Come on, man up, it's not like you've never heard my dad cuss before."

"I don't want to say it." Goten stood his ground.

"Then whisper it." said Trunks. Goten looked left, then right, and stood on his tiptoes to reach Trunks' ears. Before he could say anything though, a loud voice interrupted.

"Look everyone, it's GAYten, going to give his boyfriend a little kiss!" The two boys whipped around, and who stood before them but the gang of bullies. Out of the kids that were still hanging around, almost all of them laughed. The leader of the gang, a tall ginger with a buzz cut and a chipped front tooth, smirked slyly.

"Don't try to hide it, we all know you two are in _love_." he said, putting extra emphasis on the word love. Trunks stepped forward, clenching his fists and growling, but Goten grabbed his arm.

"Remember what our parents said?" he hissed. "Plus, they're older than us!"

"Screw them, they're only a year older than me. I won't kill them, even though I want to, just one little punch to knock the lights out of them and I'll be satisfied."

"Did you hear that?" yelled the bully. "Underwear wants to kill us! Too bad we could knock him out in two seconds."

Trunks forced a smirk. "I was the winner of the World Martial Arts Tournament in the junior's division last year. I beat a kid a whole seven years older than me with one punch. I have it on video if you want proof."

The bully's lip twitched. "You're bluffing."

The smirk was less forced now, and spread across Trunks' face. "My father is _Prince_ Vegeta, you ever heard of him? He came to Earth way back when to destroy the planet, and he had a big battle with Goten's dad. My mother says I get my power from him. One little word of this to my dad, and you just might not wake up in the morning."

"He wouldn't hurt kids! No good dad would!" yelled the bully, starting to get frantic.

"I never said my dad was a good one." said Trunks smugly. "Wouldn't even hesitate to injure me or my mom. Don't know how he manages to keep it all inside of him like that."

"Then he should be arrested for abuse. I'll call the cops." retorted the bully, thinking he had won this game. If possible, Trunks' smirk only widened.

"No prison cell could hold _my_ father, he'd blow the whole damn place up, guards and all."

"Now how would he manage to do that?"

"Simple, he uses energy blasts."

"No he can NOT!" The bully glared.

"Yes he can, and so can I. He taught me when I was only 5."

"Prove it to me, Underwear!"

"Gladly, prick. And I bet you don't even know what that means."

Trunks held out a hand, but Goten stepped in front of him. "NO! You're breaking the rules!" he yelled, waving his arms frantically.

"Piss off Goten, just one blast!" spat Trunks. Goten's eyes widened, and he meekly stepped off to the side.

The bully smiled, thinking that Trunks was going to chicken out. But to his surprise, Trunks erupted in a wave of Ki and transformed into a Super Saiyan. Goten whimpered, then ran.

Before Trunks could fire the energy blast, he noticed Goten run and took off after him, realizing what he had gotten himself into. He let his hair bleed to lavender, and left the bully and his stupid cronies speechless. He decided he would continue this in the near future.

Goten had run off into the woods behind the school's playground, way beyond the fence. He had gotten a good head start too, so Trunks had to rely on his Ki sensing skills to keep up with Goten.

With a sudden startle, he slammed directly into the eight year old he was looking for, knocking them both over and into the piles of autumn leaves scattered across the ground. Out of breath, the two boys were left gasping for air, one on top of the other.

"Why did you stop?" Trunks breathed into Goten's ear.

"I... thought I saw something." was the reply.

"What'd you see?" asked Trunks, pulling himself off his friend, sitting in the leaves.

"A shadow." said Goten, not making eye contact.

"Maybe it was yours."

Goten shook his head, his spikes of hair bobbing around. "It looked like a girl, and she was wearing almost like a nightgown, and plus, her hair was straight."

Trunks thought for a moment. "What would a little girl in pajamas be doing in the woods?" he asked no one in particular.

"She looked at me." said Goten softly. "And then she ran away."

Trunks laughed. "_I'd_ run away if I saw you in the woods." he joked, but Goten didn't laugh.

"I think she wanted us to follow her."

"What?"

Goten stood up and stared north. "She went that way." Without waiting for Trunks to reply, he set off in the direction the shadow had gone in.

()o()o()o()o()

"You're nuts Goten!" No reply. "You actually think there's some creepy shadow trying to make us follow it?!"

It was getting harder and harder to keep up with Goten, he had some new refined energy and was way ahead of Trunks. Before he could yell anything else to Goten, he slowed down.

Looming ahead of them was a gigantic dilapidated house, made of rotting wood that might have had either old paint or strangely coloured mold covering it. The area smelled strange, a mix of old, wet wood, and something else Trunks couldn't name.

The door was slightly angled and hanging off the hinges, not moving despite the chilly wind that had blown through the trees. Trunks could have sworn he saw a small shadow flitting around the perimeter of the house.

There stood Goten, staring up at the house like it was the home he'd always heard about, but never been to. With a new confidence in his eyes, Goten turned to Trunks and smiled.

"Let's go in!" he said, grabbing Trunks' arm and leading him to the front steps.

"I don't think so." stammered Trunks, wiggling out of Goten's grip. "We should just go home now, our parents will be worried."

Goten looked at Trunks with an unreadable expression, daring him to say no again. Trunks winced, he didn't like to get Goten angry with him. "Fine, we'll go inside for a little, but after that we leave."

"Deal."

Trunks let Goten lead him to the front steps, gripping the latter's hand tight. Through the door, the house was much nicer on the inside than it was from the outside view.

Newly lit candles lit up the front hallway, giving Trunks the creepy feeling that someone was waiting for their arrival.

Large painted portraits lined the hallway walls, the kinds that always look like they're staring at you. Trunks cringed as his gaze flickered to all the paintings in his line of vision.

"We should go upstairs." muttered Goten, looking around the narrow hallway. "I don't like the feel I get from this floor."

Trunks just stared at Goten. "What are you talking about?" he asked, bewildered.

It was like Goten didn't even hear Trunks. "The problem is, the only way to get to the stairs leading to the second floor is down this hallway."

"Then that means we go down the freaky hallway?" asked Trunks, not liking how high-pitched his voice sounded.

It seemed as though Goten had finally acknowledged Trunks' presence, because he nodded

Trunks looked around frantically. He didn't know why he was so afraid. The fear almost didn't seem natural, almost as if someone had injected it into him. He knew perfectly well that no one could hurt the son of the greatest warrior on the planet, but why was he so scared?

As they ventured down the hallway, Trunks kept looking behind him. Was someone following him? He heard a laugh, soft, feminine, right in his ear.

Oh no, Goten had let go of Trunks. Seeking comfort, he scrambled for Goten's hand, shoulder, anything to give him some sort of confidence. Goten looked out of the corner of his eye, a small smile playing at his lips.

"Are you scared?" he asked, not faltering.

Trunks knew he couldn't lie. "A little." he muttered. "Aren't you?"

"No." There was a silence. "Ow, Trunks, you're hurting my hand, loosen your grip a little." His voice echoed throughout the hallway.

"Sorry." Tunks apologized, feeling a burst of cold explode in his body. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"A voice- someone laughing. Right in my ear."

"You're mind is playing tricks on you. Aren't _you_ the older one? You shouldn't be scared of anything."

The words repeated in Trunks' ear, mimicking the sound of Goten's voice.

"You shouldn't be scared of anything... you're the older one!" Then another little giggle. "Man up, Trunksie! Your mind is just playing tricks on you!"

"Shut up!" he yelled.

Goten turned to Trunks. "What'd I say?" he asked, confused.

Trunks shook his head. "Nothing. It was just- my mind." He gritted his teeth. "Playing tricks on me."

They had finally reached the end of the hallway, leading them to a large circular room. It was dark, no source of light to be seen.

"The stairs should be right here..." Goten mumbled, trailing off.

Trunks stayed silent. His heart was pounding in his ears, though he knew it was just the fake fear again.

Goten's hand was bathed in a cold sweat, and this time, he was the one to grab a firmer hold. "Let's get out of here." he said, real fear written all over his face.

"But the adventure's only just begun!" replied Trunks, who immediately covered his mouth. "That wasn't me." he said. "I didn't talk."

Goten shook his head, shaking it off, then turning to the exit. His eyes widened. "Trunks, where's the hallway?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Trunks, also turning. The hallway path was completely closed off.

Suddenly, a loud giggle sounded throughout the room, followed by another. "We know what you want..." echoed the voice of a little girl.

"We know how you feel..." came another one.

Two little girls, no older than Goten, materialized in front of the boys. The first had long black hair that hung in her face, and wore a ratty old pink nightgown, clutching a just as ratty teddy bear to her chest. The nightgown was stained with blood and dirt. The second had long dark brown hair, tied into two braids, and wore what looked like a hospital gown.

**(These two were inspired by a mix of the grudge girl and the little ghost girl from the video game "The Calling")**

"Who are you?" Goten stammered, peeking out from around Trunks.

"We are us. You are you. That's all you need to know." the black-haired one sang, then giggled again.

"We know how you feel, always being bullied and pushed around, you don't really like your lives, do you?" piped up the brown-haired girl.

"They think you're gay." joined in the black-haired one. "We were unhappy once, too. We were broken inside."

"But we came here! And now we're all better!" the other cackled.

"_They_ bullied me because they thought I was a goth, and _they _didn't like goths." said the black-haired girl. "I was running away from them, and I found this place. The nice people who lived here, they let me in, they were so kind, they understood everything that was happening. But they lied." she snarled. "They killed me, telling me it would make me feel better. I thought I would be even more unhappy then, but then I realized I was away from _them_."

"They didn't like me because I had a problem walking. I would miss school to go to the hospital, and the kids would bully me all the time." said the brown-haired girl. "But then I found this place, and I was happy!"

"You can stay here forever, if you'd like." said the black-haired one. "No one to hurt us, because we'd already be dead!" she threw back her head and laughed, locks of black hair flying around her head.

"I'm- I'm sorry, but... I don't think... we want to stay here." Trunks gathered all of his courage to speak above the ghost girl's cackles.

The laughter stopped abruptly, her hair fell back in her face, and all was eerily silent. "Ask the little one what he thinks." she said.

"Yes Goten, what do you want?" asked the brown-haired one, sweetly, too sweet to the point where it sounded fake.

"I... I'll do whatever Trunks does. I'll be lonely if he's not around." whispered Goten, slinking behind Trunks again.

Trunks swallowed. "We're not staying here." he said confidently. "We have family that loves us, we don't need to be dead to be happy."

"What about those mean kids?" asked the black-haired girl, her voice rising.

"We can handle it," Trunks continued. "We don't want to stay forever with creepy little girls like you."

The girl roared, a red glow lit up where her eyes should have been. "See what I mean?" her voice was a low growl, her hair flew back up again. Her teeth were bared, sharper and longer than they should be, her skin deathly pale.

"You see how everyone is mean to me?! No one cares, they all just make fun of me and they should DIE!" The red glow of her eyes brightened, and crimson blood began to trickle down her face. Her skin seemed to melt away, leaving holes in her bloody face to the point where you could see the bone.

The other girl shrieked, scurrying away and dematerializing.

Goten buried his head in Trunks' back, mumbling to himself. Trunks could only make out one thing. 'It's all a dream.' Over and over he muttered it.

Luckily, the doorway to the hallway opened. Trunks grabbed Goten's arm and pulled him to the door, practically dragging the boy down the hallway.

Trunks caught sight of the door, and laughed in relief. Before the door was within reach, the ghost girl flew through the wall, blocking their path. She screamed, and both boys covered their ears out of instinct.

The ghost girl grabbed Trunks by the ankle, then threw him on the floor.

"GOTEN!" he screamed, reaching out for his best friend. The girl dragged Trunks away, leaving Goten yelling in the direction Trunks was taken, yelling to give back his friend.

Goten started to sob out of pure fear and sadness, then found the stairs he was looking for. He ran as fast as he could up the stairs, running into the first room he could find.

A baby's nursery. All the toys floating in the air, singing an eerie tune while disembodied voices whispered behind him. Goten slammed the door, and shut himself in the closet to get away from the noise.

He curled up into a ball on the floor, hands clamped over his ears, tears running down his face. He just wanted to get out, to be back with his mother, his brother, his father, Trunks, everyone. Suddenly, the voices and singing stopped.

Curious, Goten looked up, sat up, and wiped his eyes. Someone was knocking on the door.

"Goten, sweetie? It's me, Mommy! Open up! I was so worried! I'm so happy I found you!"

"Mommy...?" asked Goten, reaching for the doorknob.

"Yes! It's me! Let's go home, I'll never take you to that school ever again! Trunks told me everything!"

"Trunks is alive?" Goten asked hopefully, resting his hand on the doorknob.

"Of course honey, why wouldn't he be? I'll take you home, give you and your brother dinner-"

Goten opened the door, peeking through the door frame. He was horrified to see it was not his mother standing at the door, but the ghost girl, her blood covered face staring back at Goten, her mouth curled up into a cruel smile.

She reached out, laughing, grabbing Goten by the shirt collar, then...

Darkness.

End.

**Yesh. I just noticed my fish is a cannibal. My brother's died and now mine is eating his. :l Okay. I really got into this story while writing it, mostly because I listen to music while I write. Today I was listening to The Enigma TNG, don't know if you know him or not, but he makes amazing music and it really put me in the mood. :D Oh well, see ya in the next story. **


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